On February 5, 2024, after nearly 4 years of lax requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dartmouth became the first Ivy League college to reinstate the necessity for SAT or ACT scores. In the process of making this decision, Sian Beilock, President of Dartmouth since July 2023, decided to have Dartmouth professors conduct internal studies regarding standardized tests. Unsurprisingly, Dartmouth’s research showed that test scores were more effective in displaying applicants’ academic capabilities than high school GPAs, student essays, or teacher recommendations. The SAT and ACT are some of the only consistent aspects of the entire application pool – it’s a “standard,” as in the name “standardized tests.” Neglecting valuable information for the college admissions process only hinders the college’s ability to make a well-grounded decision in choosing the most qualified applicants. More interestingly, the test-optional policy that had been applied by all Ivy League colleges during and post-COVID actually disadvantaged lower-income students. This was due to students omitting their test scores in their applications, thinking they were too low; in reality, submitting the test scores would have increased their chances of being admitted. This outcome was undoubtedly a shock and felt counterintuitive. The basis for the test-optional policy was to accommodate the economically disadvantaged during COVID-19 and to give them a chance to compete with applicants who might be less affected by the pandemic. Conversely, Dartmouth’s study showed that this was not the case, hence the reinstatement of the required submission of standardized test scores.
Shortly after this major decision, another Ivy League school followed the precedent set by Dartmouth. On February 22, Yale announced that they would require standardized test scores starting next year – the same as Dartmouth. Additionally, MIT already reinstated SAT or ACT scores in March 2022. However, it is still yet to be seen if many more top colleges will follow the decisions of Dartmouth and Yale; Harvard is to remain test-optional until the application class of 2026, and the California university system has a test-blind policy, meaning that applicants’ test scores will not even be considered, even they are submitted.
